LEAH AND LILLY McFARLANE, a mother and daughter team, are ready to help folks with two weeks’ worth of diapers from the Versailles United Methodist Church’s diaper ministry. (Photo by Scott White)

THE DIAPER MINISTRY is a team effort at Versailles United Methodist Church. Preparing the diapers for pick-up are, from left, Katie Slone, Jenelle Smart, Jenny Cocanougher and Martha Thompson. (Photo by Scott White)

About a year ago, Leah McFarlane, a member of Versailles United Methodist Church (VUMC), began thinking about how the church could make a difference in its neighbors’ lives. The answer: diapers.

“We were throwing ideas around in the outreach committee. ‘What could we do to make a real impact?’,” she said. “I remember when my children were babies, how thankful I was for any support we got, and providing diapers to families who need them could be so impactful.”

A year ago, VUMC made a congregation-wide commitment to address this need in Woodford County.

A vacant office was turned into a storage room for diapers and folks started bringing packages in when they did their grocery shopping.

Soon, Leah said, “We kept the local Amazon driver busy with all of the boxes of diapers members were ordering.”

The ministry has grown quickly. In just its first year, VUMC provided 23,000 diapers, free of charge, to families in need of this support, freeing up money for other necessities like food and other basic needs.

“Our entire congregation has come together to support the diaper ministry by donating diapers, assisting with marketing, helping with fundraising or preparing diapers for distribution,” said Martha Thompson, who, with her husband Rusty, is a long-time member of the church.

“When you talk to families who are picking up diapers, you hear their gratitude,” she said. “Many families have more than one child in diapers or pull-ups and the money they save by receiving diapers allows them to focus on other family needs.”

Given Woodford County was just determined by finance website SmartAsset to be the seventh wealthiest county in Kentucky, averaging $83,788 median annual income, it is easy to forget there is a significant number of families living near the poverty level here.

According to the Census Reporter, 10.5% of Woodford Countians live at or below the poverty level, which the federal government has established for 2026 as an annual income of $15,650 for an individual and $32,150 for a family of four.

“We know the need is there,” McFarlane said.

The program works very simply. Every other Sunday at 6 p.m., anyone wanting diapers enters the main entrance of the church. There, a church member helps the person fill out a form, which is then provided to a team member who provides a bag of 35 diapers and, if needed, 15 pull-ups for each child in the family who still uses diapers/pull-ups. In two weeks, the person can return and receive a new batch of diapers if the need is still there. On Sunday, April 12, the church helper was eighth grader Lilly McFarlane.

This real need, which is likely to grow given the current state of the economy, has led VUMC to seek out other ways to financially support the ministry. McFarlane said the national United Methodist Church awarded a $10,000 Good Samaritan grant to the church this year for this project.

But what could become a sustaining source for the ministry is the upcoming, inaugural Diaper Dash 5K to be run at 8:30 a.m. on April 25 at Falling Springs Recreational Center. The entry fee is $32 and all of the funds raised, less the administrative cost paid to Race Rise, an organization that manages race events, will go directly to buying diapers. The event will include a kids’ sprint, and prizes will be awarded to the top three male and female finishers.

Rusty Thompson presented information about the ministry and the inaugural Diaper Dash 5K at the March 10 Woodford County Fiscal Court meeting, where he reported that the county is covering the cost of using Falling Springs.

Folks can also bring a package of diapers to donate to the ministry at the race, and all those making a diaper donation will be entered in a drawing for a free entry to a future Race Rise race. To register, go to: https://runsignup.com/Race/KY/Versailles/DiaperDash5KFREEKidSSprint.